


Iruka-sensei's Post Academy Lesson Plan

by NianaiBell



Series: Umino Appreciation Fics [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Bonding (Naruto), Day 6, Gen, Iruka Week 2021, Jutsu Gone Wrong, M/M, Sealing Scrolls are involved, Team Seven is a Mess, The logic of how summoning scrolls work is hazy at best and the author too some liberties here, unconventional training methods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 13:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NianaiBell/pseuds/NianaiBell
Summary: For Iruka Week 2021/Day 6: Jutsu Gone WrongEven if they aren't technically his students anymore...Iruka's willing to help them out. Just this once.
Relationships: A slight moment of KakaIru at the end, Team Seven - Relationship
Series: Umino Appreciation Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202717
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50
Collections: Iruka Week 2021





	Iruka-sensei's Post Academy Lesson Plan

Forty-five minutes after the last miniature shinobi-in-training had vacated school grounds Iruka had completed exactly one stack of essays, flipping open his favorite gradebook to the day’s date and writing in scores. Between the late afternoon sun filtering across the empty room, the gentle scratch of pen against paper, and the distant murmur of staff packing up for the day there was a hypnotizing rhythm that kept him fully immersed well in his work.

Just as he finished marking in Konohamaru's latest barely comprehensible essay on chakra masking there was a flair of a familiar set of chakra signatures heading towards him that had Iruka snapping his head up towards the classroom door moments before distinctive voices leaked into earshot.

“Look why don’t we try finding an actual jounin? Or the Third? He should be able to fix something as simple as this.” Logically looking for help and a feminine voice? _Sakura_.

“Nuh-uh, there’s _no way_ I’m going to the Third! He’ll be so pissed when he finds out about this!” That was Naruto’s unmistakable whine of displeasure.

“That’s what happens when you’re an idiot.” The disinterested tone laced with a smidge of smugness? Definitely Sasuke.

Down the hallway, there was a swell of angry chakra and Iruka could still vividly recall the feeling of being immersed in a similar (albeit more deadly) glow of it from last summer with the whole Mizuki and forbidden scroll business. He had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to like whatever had the genin of Team 7 wandering his hallways after classes had ended much more than that. He was almost positive this interruption markedly meant the end of his paper grading for today.

Masking his footsteps across the wooden boards of the Academy was second nature after years of practice as both a hellion and a teacher and Iruka crept forward until he was positioned at the crack of his open doorway, body pressed flat against the wall as he smothered his chakra. He peered into the mostly emptied hallways to see that his three former graduates were closely huddled together, shoulders bumping and voices strained. Although Naruto’s back was to him, he could tell a fighting stance when he saw one and Sasuke looked grimly pleased with himself.

“Oh look who’s talking! You couldn’t do any better either Sasuke and I don’t hear _you_ offering any suggestions so why don’t you-”

Sakura's reaction time had significantly improved since joining Team 7 because Iruka blinked and almost missed her grab a fistful of an orange and blue jacket, teal eyes blazing warningly. 

“Will you two knock it off? We’re here to help out Kakashi-sensei remember? It doesn’t matter who did what right now.”

That certainly seemed as good as an opening as he was going to get.

He kept his chakra cloaked until he was standing directly behind Naruto, watching with some satisfaction at the twin flickers of surprise that flashed over Sakura and Sasuke’s face even if the Uchiha quickly rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. At least his formal pupils hadn't changed too much in the last year, Iruka supposed.

“And what _exactly_ did you two do?” Iruka demanded, hands on his hips and eyebrow raised imploringly. 

There was a full-body shiver that ran from the top of blond spikes and into sandaled feet as Naruto turned around carefully to stare up at the chuunin. One bandaged covered hand scratched awkwardly at blond strands and Iruka knew he was in for a long night. 

“Hey you guys, looks like Iruka-sensei found us! What a relief ahah.”

At least the other two had managed to reclaim some form of a composed bluff because Sakura piped up from beside her teammate and smiled apologetically.

“Well you see Iruka-sensei, it seems like Naruto here had a bit of a ninjutsu misfire.”

The gall of being blamed for the action had Naruto fully back to attention and he pouted, “Sakura-chan it wasn’t my fault!”

Iruka watched as a routine disagreement began to play out and mostly tuned out the words to take note of what Naruto had cradled protectively against his chest.

The chuunin blinked several times to make sure he was actually perceiving this right. Tucked into Naruto’s chest was a sealing scroll, a messy henohenomoheji hastily drawn on the label.

\--

It took the better part of thirty minutes for Naruto and Sakura to explain how exactly how the scroll and the mysterious incident that led them here related to Kakashi-sensei.

As they talked, Iruka laid out the scroll in the empty space of his classroom floor while having the team help him clear any lingering objects that could be potential hazards if the unsealing didn’t work out. The three had digressed into half-hearted bickering around Iruka while he sat cross-legged, chin cupped in hand as he concentrated on what he'd been told. There was something fishy about this and he hadn't managed to pinpoint it from the stitched together stories.

What he _did_ know so far was this; Kakashi had called them for training this morning and shown up predictably late. When pressed about what they were learning for the day Kakashi had informed them that the lesson was “up to them to decide”. He’dprocced to place sealing scrolls between the three of them and tasked them each with successfully locking something inside of it and up-ing the size requirement each time. Upon successfully completing that they’d started to use different elemental attributes to close the scroll. Sakura seemed adequate at adapting most of the elements within her reach to add multiple layers stacked on her scroll. Sasuke had excelled with his fire tasks but seemed to struggle with harnessing anything else. And Naruto,,, had stumbled about unsuccessfully for the first few hours it seemed.

Apparently, this had created tension between the two rival males who turned the whole thing into an opportunity to add an extra layer of competitive challenge into the mix. So when Kakashi reluctantly went to replace the most recent heap of ash that used to be a scroll, the taunting turned destructive and Naruto and Sasuke had unleashed a barrage of jutsu that Kakashi hadn't avoided in favor of pushing Sakura out of the oncoming path of fire and wind. When the debris had cleared the scroll had a faint glowing symbol of the henohenomoheji on it and Kakashi was gone. The trio had spent the next few hours trying different combinations of elements and physical force to pry open the scroll but it remained stubbornly still.

The whole ordeal certainly didn’t seem out of the ordinary for the trio; chaos managed to follow them like a lost pup most of the time. But it did seem odd that _Sharingan no Kakashi_ hadn’t seen this potential disaster from the start? The man had to be familiar with the potential destruction force his pupils caused on a daily and to not be prepared with a clone or substitution jutsu seemed like a glaring oversight.

A heavy silence settled upon the group as they wrapped up their morning recap and Naruto sheepishly looked to Iruka, hand rubbing his neck soothingly. “So I said we should come here because you _never leave_ and you’re really good with sealing and scrolls and stuff.”

“And with problem-solving! Since Naruto refuses to go to the Third we figured you’d help us out sensei.” Sakura added, her smile pleading.

Iruka groaned at the idea that his students thought he never actually left the school grounds, even though this time the assumption had worked out in their favor. Maybe he'd actually make a point of leaving the school before dark from now on. But right now he needed to get Kakashi unsealed. He inhaled deeply, head hanging for a moment of respite before he was fully in educator mode, and began pointing out the different markings covering the scrolls.

“You see these symbols here? These two here are the fire and wind you two released," he indicated the signs that interlocked over the center of the scroll.

“And Sakura is correct about this needing more than one element to unlock. See? There are five signs total surrounding the actual seal.”

He tapped against each character in turn and was pleased that the three seemed attentive still. Usually he’d lost Naruto by now in normal lectures but this seemed to have the gears turning in his head. This was probably the goal of Kakashi’s vagueness earlier. Although this definitely seemed like the lesson was being pushed off onto unsuspecting chuunin teachers who had over two hours' worth of papers left to grade.

“So that leaves earth, lightning, and water. We know Sasuke uses fire and Naruto can use wind. Sakura do you know what affinity you have?” The pink-haired girl straighter, lips pressed into a firm line as she nodded. This was Sakura’s element: applied knowledge of the curriculum.

“Yes, I use earth release. So that means if you can use water or lighting then we have four out of the five-element keys.”

Iruka gave her a proud smile, grateful team seven's skills complimented each other so well.

“The good news is, I can use the water release. And I believe Kakashi-sensei can use lighting.”

Naruto rocked back on the balls of his feet, lip protruding dramatically, and looking lost. “But if Kakashi-sensei is _in_ the scroll how are we supposed to use his lighting anyways?”

Even as a teacher, Iruka had never really encountered someone being accidentally locked within a scroll. Sure, they used them all the time for bodies or weapons or summoning, but in those situations generally knew how to unlock the key before you had to use it. It was a long shot but he figured they could get creative since there didn’t seem to been any tripwires or exploding bombs embedded into the scroll's code.

“Well, you said there was a residual glow after Kakashi was sealed right? I think…” He reached out to feel the surface of the lighting symbol, it was faint but still warmer to the touch than the other symbols. "I think Kakashi managed to embed some of his own chakra into the seal before he was bound."

The three genin's expressions ranged from cautiously hopefully to sighing with relief in an instant and he motioned for everyone to take a seat next to their chakra affinity.

"Did you three by any chance try unlocking this all at the same time?" Iruka asked, aware that getting Naruto and Sasuke to cooperate on anything was a 50/50 shot at best.

All three looked away from one another, a tense moment flashing between them and Iruka took a deep breath. Figured.

"Well, for this to work we are all going to have to do this at the same time. Got that Naruto? Sasuke? There's no additional layers here so one go should do the trick."

The two boys shot a challenging glance between them before they both quickly deflated, muttering 'for Kakashi-sensei' reluctantly. As they settled, each giving a tiny nod when Iruka made steady eye contact. He counted down from three. Four different hand signs flashed and were pressed to paper as a huge ripple of pure chakra erupted from the center of the scroll, ruffling the hair and clothes of those present. He feels the pull of chakra leaving his system, trying to match the requirement of the seal against the uncontrollable flair of untrained control. He feels the burn of the loss against a day of hands-on lessons with his students and he knows should've accepted those snacks from his co-staff earlier. 

When the smoke finally cleared, Kakashi sat crisis-crossed over the center of the scroll, head inclined and eye crested in approval.

“Yo."

Sakura and Naruto looked so relieved that Iruka was worried they might just pass out on his floor. Sasuke gave a tiny sigh of relief as a modicum of color returned to the pale skin of his face. Kakashi took in the three carefully, then the wash of evening shadows covering the room before settling on Iruka. 

"Good job team, now what did we all learn?"

\--

The whole debrief lasted five minutes before Naruto and Sasuke's stomachs gave a telling rumble and finally, the three were dismissed for the day. The group sprinted to the Academy's front gates, voices impressively loud and boisterous for kids who just spent half a day working through scroll sealing theories. 

Kakashi and Iruka had hung back behind the excitable chatter, both silently appraising the dedication of the team they'd taught. 

"You know, this whole debacle seems like a cheat Kakashi-sensei; letting your fellow shinobi work through a lesson on advanced sealing technique while you hang out in a scroll all day?" Iruka pointed out as they closed the heavy double doors behind them. 

The jounin seemed to consider the accusation for a brief moment before shrugging both shoulders in dismissal.

“Hmm, it's important to remember to use whatever resources are available.”

Iruka snorted at that defense, eyes tracking the setting sun as they walked.

"You mean you knew my chakra nature, my specialty in sealing and you knew there was a high probability that Naruto would come to me for help.” Iruka hazard, wondering if Kakashi had a detailed rundown on every shinobi he encountered in the village. It wouldn't surprise him at this point.

“If they couldn’t open it on their own I figured it was the most likely scenario based on those factors yes.”

“And if I didn’t help them figure it out? Or they didn’t actually think to go to any shinobi at all? Are you telling me you have a secret escaped planned just in case Kakashi-sensei?” Iruka pressed, he knew Kakashi's teaching style (if it could be referred to as such) was odd but this seemed risky. 

"My my Iruka-sensei, I don’t divulge all my super cool secret techniques to just anyone you know,” Kakashi dodged and gave a suggestive glance at his current companion. 

“I'm sure." He agreed sarcastically.

The two men continued on in silence, easily distracted by the chatter just ahead of them. Iruka had enough experience with the jounin to know he wouldn't be able to budge the other on divulging any more information than he was willing. Besides he was pleased Kakashi had thought Iruka would factor into any of this at all when there was half a village that the team could realistically turn to for help. As much as Iruka wasn't teaching for acknowledgment or thanks, It was good to feel recognized. When Kakashi spoke again his voice was light and almost teasing, though Iruka felt the underlying thread of uncertainty. 

“I should ask though, what do you think my rescuer deserves in return for reuniting me with my precious students?”

Iruka sighed. “I just want to understand how this was your go-to method for teaching teamwork, advanced sealing, and resource gathering.”

"'Fraid I can’t tell you all that. You’ll just have to leave it as a mystery.”

There was silence as the trio of kids sprinted out of sight, only giving a brief over-the-shoulder wave as a goodbye.

The two shinobi stood in silence for a moment, breathing in the crisp air of approaching fall. Kakashi seemed hesitant and Iruka was okay admitting to himself that he wanted to linger here with the eccentric man, even if just for a few minutes.

“What about a kiss instead?” Kakashi asked, still painfully measured and whole body portraying an aloofness that Iruka suspected he didn't feel. If this was some odd idea of a joke...well he wouldn't put it past Kakashi but that didn't mean Iruka hadn't _thought_ about it at least. 

“Huh?” 

:"Eh, it works in Icha Icha, a handsome shinobi rescuing the heroine from an unlikely disaster. Usually, there's a thank you kiss." Kakashi explained weakly, eye adverted. 

“Yes in your _literal erotic works of fiction_ Kakashi-sensei and I'm sure there's more than kissing involved in your books.”

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.”

Iruka watched him, seeing the faint red burn of blush along his cheek and the way he very pointedly looking past Iruka’s shoulder in the direction the long-gone genin had taken. He actually was being serious. He wanted a kiss? More than that he wanted to kiss _Iruka_? It was ridiculous and unexpected and completely endearing and Iruka grinned, hands gripping the material of the jounin's flak jacket.

“Just this once okay? Then you need to ask me out on a normal date, like a real person. Not like a character from your books understood?”

Kakashi was going to get whiplash from how violently he nodded in agreement.

And then Iruka was closing the gap, unsurprised that Kakashi had managed to maneuver his mask off before their lips connected. Heat seeps from Kakashi's body, the solid lines of muscle loosening the longer they kissed. Iruka grinned against Kakashi's lips when a hand crept to rest on his hip, the other finding purchase at Iruka's chin. _Not a bad afternoon at all._

He never did get around to grading papers that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to "Author Is Incapable of Posting Work In A Timely Manner" fic #3450
> 
> Anyways, pre Sasuke Retrieval Arc is a fun time.


End file.
